I’m back….

tired but happy.  It was nice having my family all together again.  The food was good and I sent the leftovers all home with the kids.

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I used a recipe from www.allrecipes.com for the raisin pie.

"Raisins are plumped in water, and brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, vinegar and butter are stirred in. The filling is poured into a pastry shell, covered with a top crust, and baked in a hot oven for 30 minutes. Cool and serve with ice cream."

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups raisins

2 cups water

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1 tablespoon butter

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust

pie

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Combine raisins and water in a small saucepan. Boil 5 minutes. Blend brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together; add to hot raisins. Cook and stir until syrup is clear. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar and butter or margarine. Cool slightly.

2.  Turn filling into a pastry lined pan. Cover with top crust. Seal edges, and cut slits in the top crust.

3.  Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes.

This is what my pie looked like.  I didn’t use that hot of an oven.  I used a 375 degree oven and it took about 45 minutes to bake.  I was afraid to use that hot of an oven with my glass pie pan.

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The brownies were courtesy of a Duncan Hines mix.

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The macaroni salad was a big hit.  I tweaked a recipe around that I found on the net.

I cooked a 12 ounce package of Barilla  tri-color rotini pasta about 10 minutes.  Then I drained and rinsed it under cold water.

I had already cooked several slices of bacon until crisp.  I diced the bacon into small pieces.

In a large bowl I mixed l bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing with 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.

I diced 1 green bell pepper that had been washed and seeded.

I diced 1 stalk of celery.

I added the pasta to the ranch dressing mix and folded in the bacon, green pepper and celery.  I then added 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and mixed it all together.

This salad was really good and the first pasta salad that I have eaten that I really liked.

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I hope you all have a good week.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth